The girl who stood up for education, the girl that was shot by the Taliban, and now the youngest girl to win the Nobel Peace Prize.  Malala Yousafzai has become a role model for girls around the world with her powerful voice and determination through the struggles of defending girls education.

Malala, who is now seventeen years old, has been an advocate for equal educational rights since she was eleven.  In Pakistan, where Yousafzai was born, there was equal education until the Taliban took over.  When the Taliban began enforcing their rules, girls were not allowed to attend school.  Some schools, such as the one that Malala’s father founded, secretly allowed girls to attend.  If these were discovered, the Taliban would terrorize and destroy the buildings and harm the students.  Advocates for equal rights were threatened, injured, and even killed.  Yousafzai valued nothing more than her education.  Even with constant threats she continued to advocate for her freedom and went to school.  Malala Yousafzai stood up for education by blogging for the BBC under the fake name of Gul Makai and by giving public speeches on the topic.  Her activism quickly led her to become targeted by the Taliban.

Malala and her family never believed that the Taliban would actually hurt a child, yet she was still worried for her safety.  Although she received many death threats, Malala continued to go to school.  On October 9, 2012, the young activist of fifteen years old was shot by the Taliban on the side of her head.  Yousafzai was on her way home from school when a man boarded her bus demanding to know which of the girls was her.  Luckily, she survived with no brain damage and is here today to tell her story as she continues to advocate for girls education.

The traumatic event of being shot by the Taliban did not stop Malala Yousafzai from fighting for her cause, it has made her stronger than ever.  Shortly after recovering, she made a speech at the United Nations on her sixteenth birthday.  Yousafzai also wrote an autobiography entitled, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban and created the “Malala Fund” where people can donate to different causes supporting girls education.  Now, Malala is adding becoming the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize to her resume.

When Yousafzai learned that she had won the Nobel Peace Prize, she was in her element, sitting in a classroom filled with other students eager to learn.  Her teachers, in her new home of England, informed her of this accomplishment and instead of leaving class early, Malala remained in class for the entirety of the day.

From day one, Malala became determined to bring equal education for girls.  She has inspired many to listen to her and stand up for her cause.  Malala Yousafzai is far from the end of advocating for girls around the world.  The youngest girl to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the girl targeted by the Taliban, the girl who stands up for education, the girl that is a hero to thousands of others all around the globe has only just begun.